PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Miguel Santos Almeida, Maria Novo Baptista and João Saúde, Sérvulo & Associados
Sports rights-holders attract sponsor investment by offering event, entity and digital/multimedia rights, including hospitality and VIP packages, emphasising the reach, media exposure and fan engagement of their competitions or teams. Standard sponsorship contracts typically cover the scope of rights (logo, naming, content, data), duration and exclusivity, financial terms (fees, payment sched - ules, performance bonuses), deliverables and obliga - tions (branding, digital content, hospitality), data use compliance, termination clauses (breach, insolvency, force majeure), liability and indemnity, and intellectual The owner of the broadcasting rights varies depend - ing on the type of sport in question. For example, in futsal and hockey, the respective sports federations are the exclusive owners of the broadcasting rights of all matches played in the various competitions. There - fore, the commercialisation of these rights is under - taken by the sports federations, which can transfer or license the rights through written agreements. Conversely, in football, the ownership of television and multimedia broadcasting rights for matches in the first and second national leagues for men’s football belongs to the sports clubs or sports companies who participate in these competitions. Although currently Portuguese sports clubs in professional competitions sell these rights individually, as of the 2028/2029 sports season, such rights will have to be jointly sold in terms to be defined by the Portuguese Football Federation by the end of the 2025/2026 sports season, subject to approval by the Portuguese Competition Authority, as set out in Decree-Law No 22-B/2021 of March 22nd. property and publicity rights. 2.3 Broadcasting Rights
as can sports companies and sports clubs, according to Law No 39/2009 of July 30th, which provides the Legal Framework Against Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance at Sports Events. For spectators to attend live sports events, a contract must be concluded between them and the sports pro - moter. This contract is not required to be in written form, but the promoter is required to provide the spec - tator with a physical or electronic ticket containing the most relevant clauses of the contract, such as: • identification of the sporting venue and of the sports event; • identification of the organiser and promoter of the event; and • identification of the entrance door to the venue, sector, row and seat, as well as a plan of the venue and the point of access. For the purposes of the contract concluded with the sports event’s promoters, the spectator is generally qualified as a consumer and is therefore protected by Portugal’s consumer protection law, Law No 24/96 of July 31st. However, there may be cases where the spectator does not qualify as a consumer (eg, if the “spectator” is in fact a company that buys the tickets to provide them to its employees, as in that case the services are acquired for professional purposes). 3.2 Duty of Care and Liability Under Law No 39/2009, sports events organisers are obliged to adopt regulations regarding the prevention and punishment of manifestations of violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance. If organisers fail to com - ply with this obligation, they will be prevented from benefiting from public support and may have their sporting public utility status suspended until compli - ant; furthermore, they may be liable for an administra - tive offence. The above-mentioned legislation imposes on promot - ers of sports events the obligation to: • approve internal regulations regarding security and the use of publicly accessible spaces;
3. Sports Events 3.1 Proprietary Rights and Event Management
Pursuant to the Basic Law of Physical Activity and Sports and Decree-Law No 248-B/2008, apart from organising and regulating professional sports com - petitions, sports federations and professional club leagues may also act as promoters of sports events,
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